Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Buffalo and Toledo emerged as winners in hard-fought MAC competition Wednesday. Aside from Toledo’s 24-point blowout of Eastern Michigan, the remaining five games were decided by a total of 10 points. Western Michigan 67, KentState 66.KALAMAZOO, Mich -- WMU scored the final five points, including two on a Connar Tava layup with 10 seconds left. Devareaux Manley’s layup at the buzzer would not fall. Tava and David Brown, who had the other three points down the stretch, contributed 16 points each. Tucker Haymond led the Broncos with 17. Kent State’s Derek Jackson led all scorers with 20, while Manly added 18.

KSU, which led at halftime 28-27, took 31 shots from beyond the arc and connected on 13. The 41.7 percent from distance was just over one percentage point more than Kent State’s overall percentage from the field (40.7%). Western Michigan hit 50 percent (25-of-50) of its shots from the floor and 11-of-14 from the line.Bowling Green 76, Central Michigan 74MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich – Richaun Holmes hit two free throws and followed with a key block to force overtime, and Anthony Henderson scored eight points in the extra period as Bowling Green escaped McGuirk Arena with the win despite a 42-point game by CMU’s Chris Fowler. The Chippewas junior connected on 14-of-23 from the field (2-of-6 on treys) and made 12-of-17 at the line. John Simons (10) was the only other Central player in double figures. Five Bowling Green playes reached double figures: Henderson (20), Jehvon Clarke (18), Zack Denny (12), Holmes (10) and Delvin Dickerson (10). Central Michigan owned a 30-28 advantage at intermission. Northern Illinois 69, Miami 67OXFORD, Ohio – Visiting Northern Illinois erased a six-point deficit in the final 1:45 and Travon Baker hit a game-winning layup with two seconds left as the Huskies edged Miami. Unlike in a 60-55 loss to Miami earlier, when NIU launched 30 treys and made just five (16.7%), the Huskies settled for 17 triples (hitting seven) Wednesday. They also improved from 33 percent from the field in the first meeting to 52.3 percent (23-of-44) against MU this time. A late first-half run allowed Miami to grab a 33-27 halftime advantage. However, three turnovers in three Miami possessions to open the second stanza helped NIU wipe out its deficit. It was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way. Geovonie McKnight led MU with 18 points and Willie Moore netted 11 for Miami, which also eclipsed 50 percent (54.3%, 25-of-47) and also made seven three-balls (7-of-19, 36.8%). Double figure scorers for Northern Illinois were Baker (16), Aaric Armstead (12) and Anthony Johnson (12).Ohio 83, Akron 82ATHENS, Ohio – Javarez Willis matched a career high with 31 points to pace Ohio, which held on to hand Akron its third straight loss. The Bobcats were still up 10 points with 2:21 to play, but 3-pointers by Aaron Jackson, Reggie McAdams and Jake Kretzer reduced it to a one point game. Deji Ibitayo, who led Akron with 21 points, missed on a shot at the buzzer. Other Zips reaching double figures were Pat Forsythe and Noah Robotham – each with 11 points. Joining Willis in double figures for Ohio were Maurice Daly Ndour (16), Stevie Taylor (14) and Antonio Campbell (11). The Bobcats shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field. Akron shot 46.4 percent, but Akron had four more field goals (32-of-69) and seven more threes. The big difference came at the foul line. Akron was 0-for-6 on the night, while Ohio converted 16-of-24.Buffalo 82, BallState 78MUNCIE, Ind -- For hosting Ball State, it was another close call in a string of seven straight defeats. For Buffalo, it was a third straight win that moved the Bulls into a crowd atop the MAC East. Four of the six teams now have 6-3 conference records. Buffalo held a 40-30 halftime lead, but the Cardinals pulled within two at 80-78 with 10.9 seconds remaining. Two Buffalo free throws sealed the verdict. Shannon Evans led all scorers with 25 points as he made 9-of-17 shots from the field, 2-of-5 threes and 5-of-7 free throws. Justin Moss added 17 points to the Bulls cause. Sean Sellers paced the Cardinals with 19 markers. Franko House added 17, while Francis Kiapway and Bo Calhoun chipped in 12 apiece. Both teams were busy at the foul line as each connected on 23 free throws. Toledo 84, Eastern Michigan 60TOLEDO, Ohio -- All five UT starters reached double figures as the Rockets slipped into soul possession of the MAC West lead by drubbing EMU. Justin Drummond led all scoreers with a 20-point night. He was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, including three treys. The senior guard’s only miss of the night was one free throw in four attempts. J.D. Weatherspoon and Julius Brown tossed in 15 points each, while Nathan Booth added 13 and Jonathan Williams 10. Mike Talley paced Eastern with 18 points, followed by 15 from Raven Lee and 10 from Tim Bond. Toledo jumped out to an early 14-4 lead and stretched it to 20 points midway through the first period. The Rockets led 40-25 at intermission and outscored the visitors 44-35 in the final period. Toledo connected on 51.9 percent of its shots against the MAC’s top team in field goal defense. That is nearly 20 points over the Eagles 36.2 percent average for opponents.

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Mike Smith saw his first MAC footb﻿a﻿ll action as a nine-year-old while hanging onto the flagpole of a nearby baseball stadium. The view got better after he discovered he could get in free at halftime. Decades later, he can usually be found either on press row or along the sidelines.Mike has won awards for both his stories and pictures during his time in journalism. Combining his own skills with those of other writers and photographers, along with conference and school resources, he constantly works to provide an enjoyable MAC product.